...forthcoming from cpo:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9828313--hans-koessler-symphony-in-b-minor-violin-concerto
Oh, very interesting! I only know him from his (somewhat later) Piano Quintet, and that's quite a delicious piece.
I was unaware of a piano quintet by Koessler- I see there's an incomplete one from 1900? (There's at least one piano trio, 4-odd or more string quartets only one of which might be published to my knowledge (SBB (Stabikat Berlin...) has some of the others in manuscript and what seem to be hundreds of digitized manuscripts of other works of his, hrm...!), a string quintet that has a version for string orchestra and lasts about an hour, etc. ...)
Edit: ah, I see, the piano quintet exists and has been recorded, it's -the score we have uploaded- on IMSLP-assuming it's the same quintet; it's in the same key- that's an incomplete score (it's complete up to the first page of the finale, apparently.) Not the work itself...
Any further information (e.g. dates) on the Symphony or Violin Concerto?
Like Ilja, I only know of him from his splendid quintet. This will be fascinating!
I've found this works list: https://markt-waldeck.de/waldecker-werkeverzeichnis/
So what we have here is the 2nd Symphony in H-moll (B minor), and the initiative has probably been taken Heimat- und Kulturverein Waldeck, where someone recreated the score from the parts (https://markt-waldeck.de/wv003/). I can find no date, however.
Apparently he wrote three symphonies in total. A fourth is mentioned but it is doubtful whatever it ever existed.
Edit: yes, well unearthed, Alan.
Well done, Alan.
Ilja: when is the 2nd symphony from? Late 19th century (as the quintet is from 1900) but when?
Sorry Eric, the page doesn't mention a date, and the Deutsches Zeitungsportal is no help in finding out more. We'll have to wait for the booklet to reveal more.
I see the concerto is described as a "Passacaglia Concerto" and is in only one movement. That's intriguing in itself.
According to 'Signale für die musikalische Welt', the violin concerto was premiered, from the manuscript score, with Jenö Hubay as the soloist in Budapest and then in Leipzig, the latter performance in February 1898.
Rather confusingly, the same journal has an announcement (https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plus?aid=smw&datum=1919&page=851&size=45&qid=8WQS7MFU5XM4OMS90253JW3QZP3AXZ) of the 'Uraufführung' of the Passacaglia concerto in 1919.
perhaps he wrote two violin concerti - and perhaps the 1898 one is lost...
(I think the work that's been arranged for string orchestra by the composer is the string sextet in F minor of 1902, not the string quintet in D minor of 1913, and neither is an hour long anyway (both are about a half-hour long)- my mistake :)
Both are referred to as being in A minor, though.
Possibly incorrectly in the case of the Passacaglia-Konzert. Note the piano reduction, which opens with 3 sharps in the orchestra (reduction) and none in the solo part, the two rationalizing to no sharps in both at Moderato (rehearsal B, page 4 of Marteau's reduction published 1914). Heh. I'm going to get a listen to that...
(The very opening, I see, sounds like it wants to be a Passacaglia theme, but it's the Adagio that starts at the bottom of page 39 that's actually labeled "(Passacaglia).")
btw: Mr. Schlüren in the MPH notes to the Symphonic Variations in C-sharp minor (https://repertoire-explorer.musikmph.de/wp-content/uploads/vorworte_prefaces/3009.html) -does- think the violin concerto in A minor from 1898 is a separate work...
Thanks! That would appear to clinch it.
Not necessarily. I have found the occasional error, especially of this sort, in MPH prefaces.
We may have to wait for the booklet notes – and hope they provide clarification.
It may be a clue be that none of the newspaper articles about the 1898 performance refer to the Passacaglia in the title.
Unfortunately both of you have a point. I've written two MPH prefaces and made glaring errors in them myself, I'm sorry to say!! (Yes, that sounds like a humblebrag, but the second half is the point.)
(Slightly tangentially, I've found some very fixable and much more obvious errors in the data parts of a lot of other places, the moreso when they are -not- fixable- I don't mean fixable by anyone without mediation, but like IMSLP or Wikipedia (or Reelgood!) or elsewhere, fixable either (in some cases) through a maintainer, or fixable directly but revertable if one hasn't provided some evidence for one's change...)
Speaking of errors, I meant to write
QuoteIt may be a clue be that none of the newspaper articles about the 1898 performance that I have seen refer to the Passacaglia in the title.
Toskey only mentions a 'Concerto in the form of a Passacaglia', noting that it was published by Simrock in 1914 (which is confirmed by the works list at IMSLP).
I decided to have a look at the manuscripts at SBB to see if that produced any enlightenment.
There's a cello concerto in D minor there by Koessler that I don't recall -anyone- mentioning? To be fair, it may be incomplete...) , and a violin concerto in reduced score that is apparently an early version of the Passacaglia-Konzert with a different opening. (Compare the piano reduction at IMSLP (https://imslp.org/wiki/Passacaglia-Konzert_(Koessler,_Hans)) to that at SBB (https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?lang=de&PPN=PPN881709646). Similar works, not the same.)
I was able to download this recording today, and after a first listen I was quite bowled over by it. The symphony is a very attractive, dramatic, big-boned, late romantic work. It's a bit eclectic in its influences I'd say (Wagner-Liszt-Mahler, and was that a bit of orientalism?), but without losing its inner consistency. If you like stuff like the Volbach or Berger (No. 2) symphonies (also in B minor), you're really going to enjoy this. It contains some good themes, is well-constructed, and the Mahler-esque use of snare drums and the use of muted brass in the more lyrical passages illustrate a thoughtful orchestration. A surprise, surely, but a very nice one.
Now, on to the Violin Concerto...
Ilja has characterised Koessler's Symphony very well. It's an attractive, approachable and memorable example of the sort of music which was "in the air" at the turn of the century. The Mahler influence, for me, was most clear in the substantial finale, but even then confined to the orchestration. All in all, a very welcome release from cpo.
The booklet says that the symphony is undated and remained unpublished, and likely composed before 1900. Passacaglia published in 1914.
Do the notes mention the earlier version of the concerto (which also has a Passacaglia central section but differs in a number of details)? (See autograph piano reduction (https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?lang=de&PPN=PPN881709646)- probably linked to it already.)
The only other relevant sentence in the booklet is " Koessler clearly did not give up hope that some of his works would be performed. This includes one concerto each for violin and cello and orchestra, both of which exist in different versions, as well as four symphonies, only two of which were completed."
The ms solo part to a D minor cello concerto by him (which may only be a version of the final work) is also downloadable digitized from SBB.
Well, I wish I had waited before buying until I had read Ilja's review. I have managed to get through it,but it's the worst buy I have made since purchasing the Stojowski. Top-heavy,thunderous brass,very Teutonic. It didn't remind me of Volbach at all. There was simply no respite. I am going to have to play Volkmann's Second, to remind myself of how "light and shade" really works.
I am bound to be in a minority,of course, but my partner told me to "turn off that horrible work".
When the snare drum kicks in during a big tune played by tutti in the first movement, I was even reminded of film music
There are definitely harmonies that remind of Korngold et al., although it's probably more of an "evolving common musical language" thing than any sort of direct influencing from one to the other.
The snare drum certainly feels out of place, but I think there are enough redeeming qualities in the adagio and finale.
Quote from: terry martyn on Saturday 20 December 2025, 12:08Well, I wish I had waited before buying until I had read Ilja's review. I have managed to get through it,but it's the worst buy I have made since purchasing the Stojowski. Top-heavy,thunderous brass,very Teutonic. It didn't remind me of Volbach at all. There was simply no respite. I am going to have to play Volkmann's Second, to remind myself of how "light and shade" really works.
I am bound to be in a minority,of course, but my partner told me to "turn off that horrible work".
I am reminded of an ad for a play that read, "Richard Dyer of 'The Boston Globe' hated it! What better recommendation?"
I have just ordered my copy.
I couldn't help smiling at that,John. Indeed,it's an excellent reason for the order.
Quote from: terry martyn on Sunday 21 December 2025, 09:57I couldn't help smiling at that,John. Indeed,it's an excellent reason for the order.
Thanks! I'm glad you took it in the spirit it was intended. And I hope the Volkmann eased your mind of Koessler's chromatic excesses! It's been quite a while since I listened to the Volkmann, so perhaps that will be on today's agenda.
Having finally listened to the symphony (it just arrived), I can see both sides of the argument. It is filled with wonderful ideas treated with romantic sweep, as Ilja and Mark pointed out, but it is hampered by garish orchestration that wears on the ear, just as Terry said. One doesn't have to go very far into the first movement to start being put off by the unrelenting blaring of the brass or the repeated thumping of the bass drum, that feature of belcanto Italian opera that so irritated Berlioz.
What this work desperately needs is a toned-down orchestration, one that will allow the many felicitous touches to shine rather than blind. Koessler, alas, scored it like a kid in a candy store and could not help but strive for grand effects bar after bar. Again, this is too bad because musically it's very nice, so much so that I tracked down an overpriced copy of the string quintet and string sextet so that I could hear what Koessler sounds like when he doesn't have excessive forces at his disposal.
This sort of over-the-top style can be tolerated in an occasional piece -- 38 years from now I can imagine the first movement being played by itself as the "Festival Overture for the Unveiling of the John Boyer Centenary Monument" (Hans Franke, Op. 999) -- but as the first movement of a symphony, the presentation (though not the material) lacks a certain dignity, like hearing Wordsworth shouted through a megaphone. Still, it will do for low-volume listening!
Quote from: John Boyer on Wednesday 11 February 2026, 22:09the "Festival Overture for the Unveiling of the John Boyer Centenary Monument" (Hans Franke, Op. 999)
;D ;D
I'm with the majority on this one, by the way. I love the bold, brassy sound (and I was snared by the drum).
High praise for an as-yet non-existent piece; I'd take it! :D
I have been listening to the violin concerto a lot recently. It really is a terrific piece but one which doesn't give up its secrets easily. It is ideal gramophone material, then. At first it seems rhapsodic and almost aimless but, after a while, its structure and logic become apparent. It's rather like Delius's great concerto in that sense. Repeated listening is no hardship because the music inhabits such an attractive sound world; the orchestral part is as finely wrought as is the soloist's even though, a few tuttis apart, it is almost exclusively accompanimental. It is little short of a masterpiece.